The Endgame

Undoubtedly most of you have been following the story of the (anticipated) reconciliation of the FSSPX and the Vatican.  The latest most authoratative report expects an announcement on Pentecost weekend. At first reports were circulated that an announcement would be made immediately upon receipt of acceptance by the FSSPX of the “preamble.” Then we heard that there would be a delay of some weeks until the response could be “studied.” Of course this has played into the hands of various parties seeking to derail the process.

On the one hand,  we have First Things, various representatives of Opus Dei and John Allen advancing the idea that Rome should impose a new requirement that the FSSPX “accept the Council”  or repudiate “offensive thinking” prior to any reconciliation. Of course such new demands would torpedo any such reconciliation (and rightly so) and that is the intent of those proposing them.

 On the other hand, in an entirely foreseeable repetition of events three years ago, a party within the FSSPX  apparently close to Bishop Williamson  has disclosed correspondence showing the extent of the internal debate and disagreement within the FSSPX. But the move had the merit of placing before the broader public this luminous response of Bishop Fellay. I was struck by this passage:

First of all, the letter (of three FSSPX bishops distancing themselves from the current negotiations)indeed mentions the gravity of the crisis gripping the Church and precisely analyzes the nature of the ambient errors that pullulate in the Church. Nonetheless, the description is marred by two defects in relation to the reality in the Church: it is lacking in a supernatural spirit and at the same time it lacks realism.

Doesn’t the second sentence precisely describe the operation of the hierarchy of the Catholic church nearly everywhere today? Her bishops function as secular leaders – depending on the predilection of the local culture, as businessmen, government bureaucrats, politicians or “media figures.” Yet at the same time these non-religious managers are entirely devoid of any sense of realism, worldly or otherwise – consider the ultra-short term focus of the innumerable diocesan “realignment” plans in the US. It is distressing to see related deficiencies, if in a weirdly different way, among the bishops of the FSSPX :   a totally secular, historicist view of the Church combined with tactical incompetence.  The  poisonous influence of this world thus arises in the midst of those who thought they were preserving themselves in purity from the surrounding wasteland.

Yes,  one could despair reading the draft letter of the three FSSPX bishops (or even more so, the recent outrageous statements  by Ravasi & Co on the pro-life front or the reports of the  successful  derailing of the much ballyhooed review of the orders of American sisters ).  But fortunately,  we must always keep in mind that Someone Else is involved as well, as Bishop Fellay points out to his episcopal brethren: